A prominent Massachusetts commercial real estate organization has broken from its industry peers to signal willingness to negotiate on rent control, a significant shift following the group’s effort last year to defeat a ballot initiative on the same issue.
Why It Matters
The move by NAIOP, a commercial real estate group, reshapes the political landscape around housing affordability in Massachusetts ahead of a November ballot question. The shift opens a potential path to a legislative deal — but the window is narrow, and key industry players remain opposed.
The Homes for All coalition, which is backing the ballot measure, has said it will pull the campaign if the state Legislature passes a compromise bill by July 1. That deadline gives negotiators just two weeks to reach a workable agreement.
What Happened
NAIOP’s board voted to support a counterproposal that would allow individual cities and towns to opt in to rent increase limits, rather than imposing a statewide mandate. The group had previously spent $250,000 fighting a rent control ballot initiative, making Tuesday’s announcement a notable reversal.
NAIOP’s counterproposal differs from the initial compromise — put forward by five developers including WinnCompanies, The HYM Investment Group, and the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations — in two key ways. It extends the new construction exemption period from 15 years to 30 years, and it blocks any municipality from opting in if it requires developers to include at least 10% affordable units in new construction projects.
NAIOP CEO Tamara Small framed the group’s position around supply rather than price controls, saying, “Increasing the supply of housing remains the most effective long-term strategy for improving affordability and meeting the needs of residents across the Commonwealth.”
Governor Maura Healey, who had previously opposed the ballot question, signaled openness to the emerging compromise framework, adding institutional weight to the negotiations.
Industry Split
Not all real estate groups are moving in the same direction. The Greater Boston Real Estate Board and the Massachusetts Association of Realtors have not joined NAIOP at the negotiating table. Greg Vasil, president of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board, publicly reinforced his group’s opposition to rent control on the same day NAIOP announced its shift, underscoring the fracture within the industry.
Tenant advocates are also not unified in support of the compromise. The Easthampton Tenants Union voted Monday against the initial proposal, arguing that the negotiation process lacked transparency and failed to include affected renters in a meaningful way.
By the Numbers
- $250,000 — amount NAIOP spent opposing rent control at the ballot last year
- July 1 — legislative deadline for Homes for All to drop its ballot campaign
- 5% plus CPI — rent increase cap framework in the compromise proposals
- 10% — maximum cap on rent increases under the compromise structure
- 30 years — new construction exemption period under NAIOP’s counterproposal, versus 15 years in the original
Zoom Out
Massachusetts is part of a broader national debate over whether rent stabilization policies address housing affordability or suppress housing production. Several states have moved in recent years to either expand or preempt local rent control authority. The opt-in municipal model NAIOP is backing has gained traction in other states as a middle-ground approach that preserves local discretion without imposing statewide mandates on markets with different dynamics.
The state has pursued other tools to address housing costs in parallel. Governor Healey recently signed a three-year tax credit to boost sustainable development in Massachusetts, and separate pilot programs targeting early childhood care facilities have explored alternative models for reducing overhead costs in the housing-adjacent sector.
What’s Next
With the July 1 deadline looming, the focus shifts to whether the Legislature can advance a bill that satisfies enough stakeholders on both sides to make the ballot campaign unnecessary. The gap between NAIOP’s counterproposal — particularly the 30-year new construction exemption and the affordable-unit opt-in restriction — and tenant advocates’ demands remains a substantial obstacle. If no deal is reached, voters will likely see the rent control question on the November ballot.